Shonai Sashiko in Perth and a summerhouse update

On Saturday, I taught my 'Introduction to Shonai Sashiko' at the Peacock and the Tortoise in Perth.  Lots of lovely sashiko samples were made by the students.   The shop has a well-lit, comfortable workroom that's just right for sashiko.  I'll be teaching there again on December 5th, when our workshop will be 'Sashiko Furoshiki' - see link for some of my previous workshops.

Apart from his trip to Dyffryn Clwyd Quilters' 10th anniversary trading day the previous weekend, Glyn has been getting on with more summerhouse jobs while I was in Japan.  The biggest job has been installing the gothic window into the back wall.  He trimmed it with aluminium strip, to shed rainwater away from the window, and sealed around it with bitumen paint (a bitumen seal will be added too).  The roof overhang on the back of the summerhouse is only 6in, as any deeper would mean we couldn't easily get onto the roof, and it is very sheltered from the weather by the high fence.  A narrow harwood sill will go at the bottom.

The bottom of the walls has been designed to push outwards slightly, to help shed water away from the concrete base slab.  It also gives the walls an elegant shape but we have to allow for it when making things like the door frame and adding the corner capping. We got this shape by having one row of shingles under the Tyvek wrap and having a double row on top of that - this is the first top row.  The next one will overhang this by about 10mm at the bottom, so water can't run back under the shingles.  The cut out notch is for the main power cable and will be covered with the next row of shingles.

Glyn cut back the slate tile bearers at the front while I was away and added bitumen strip to the front step yesterday.  The finished front step will be aluminium checker plate, so it will wear OK.

Cutting the door frame to size.

That Japanese dōzuki saw has been used so much!  Luckily I got two extra blades when I bought it in Yamagata city.  Unlike the more traditional saws, this one has replaceable blades.

This week, we'll add more shingles in the evening, but at the weekend it is the Scottish Quilt Championships so I'll be busy with that.